


And nothing but the truth

by Miraphina Atherton (mew_tsubaki)



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, F/M, Tragedy, Tragic Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-04
Updated: 2019-06-04
Packaged: 2020-04-07 23:03:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 913
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19094827
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mew_tsubaki/pseuds/Miraphina%20Atherton
Summary: "He lies every time he says it was an accident." -—The tale of a love triangle gone wrong.





	And nothing but the truth

**Author's Note:**

> The Harry Potter characters belong to J.K. Rowling, not to me. Read, review, and enjoy!

He lies every time he says it was a hunting accident.

He's a fantastic liar. With all the time he's got to create stories, he ought to be. Any time a student asks him, he delivers the same old story, line for line. He's had ages to rehearse, and it's gotten to the point where he bores even himself with the story. It's burned into his brain, his lie.

But the memory of what really happened is burned just as well into his brain—or what's left of it. It's burned into the backs of his eyelids, too, and he can't even see those anymore.

Ages ago, he used to live a quiet life. Ages ago, he was just Sir Nick, enjoying his days flipping through some of his favorite magic books and leaving for tea parties and dinners and the games that came with them.

At one of those parties, he met a young witch who was charming and…a lot more fun than those games.

Helena Ravenclaw was a brilliant mind in a young woman's body. She could debate with the best of them and shake any man's leering eye away from her with a quick tongue-lashing. The only man who ever survived that lashing was Sir Nicholas, though, which intrigued them both. Nick saw it as his being able to bumble through a conversation with her accidentally. Helena mused that maybe she'd met an equal of sorts.

"You're dimming your intelligence in here," she told him as they sat in his estate with the fire going.

"I love my home," he retorted as he paused mid-sip of his tea.

She stared at him with those blue, _blue_ eyes of hers. "But don't you ever wonder about the world? Don't you want to explore it, to learn everything there is to learn?"

He coughed, not liking where this was headed. He knew Helena was jealous of her mother's knowledge, but he doubted Helena knew of the near-maniacal gleam that appeared in her eyes when she began speaking of gathering more knowledge.

Helena tilted her head to the side that night, waiting for him to respond. She desperately wanted him to agree with her and to venture with her into her insanity.

Instead, he stupidly twisted the ends of his black mustache and kissed her forehead, hoping she'd forget the idea.

Not only did she not forget the idea, but she asked for more than just a chaste kiss, as well.

In those times, Nicholas did not think much of what they looked like together. As long as Helena's head was in the right place, they were happy. Nick was happy. He hadn't been that happy, ever. Even when the baron started flitting about Helena and dogging her heels, the two of them could care less. Nothing was hurting them.

But Nick knew that Helena's jealousy of her mother was eating her up inside. Helena could be there in his arms, but mentally she was off stewing about how she could best her mother. She seemed to love the time she spent with Nicholas, but time with him— _he_ —was not her priority.

"My mother…has this talisman," she told him one day.

"My dear, don't—"

"It's called a diadem," she continued. That gleam had returned to her eyes. "It enhances my mother's ability to retain what she learns. I can—"

"Helena, you are perfect the way you _are_!" Nicholas frowned and cupped her face in his hands. He kissed her, but it did nothing to quash the flame of jealousy he felt rising within her.

She swatted his hands away. "I'm not good enough, I'm not smart enough!" She grabbed her cloak and disappeared.

Nicholas did not see her for several days. When she returned, she looked ashen. "Helena…what happened to you?"

Her eyes were alight. "I—I did it." She revealed a box from beneath her cloak and barely opened it. Nick caught a glimpse of silver and blue before she shut it again.

He frowned, truly worried for her and her mental health. "Helena, my dear, you…"

"Come with me," she suggested after pecking his cheek. "I'm going to see the world, with or without you. But I'd prefer it if you were with me."

He did not join her—at first. After the fourth letter, he met her in Eastern Europe and trailed her like a duckling. It was akin to a post-wedding Grand Tour, something like a honeymoon. But being back together almost made Nicholas forget why they were on the run in the first place.

Then the baron was trailing after them, and it was like a ménage à trois from the Dark Ages.

Sir Nick had never expected to experience that kind of fright. He hadn't ever felt his life being squeezed so tightly, as though it might pop out of him at any second. There were too many close calls for comfort, and Nick had to wonder if it was really only lust driving the baron.

He never got that answer, though, as the baron eventually caught up to them. He attacked Nick first and…Nicholas can only surmise what happened afterwards, that the baron killed Helena and then took his own life in grief. But that's not a story any Hogwarts student wants to hear. If Sir Nick told them that, then they'd run away and never return.

So Nearly Headless Nick lies every time he says it was a hunting accident.

**Author's Note:**

> B] Tragic, but I could totally ship Nick/Helena over her and the Bloody Baron any time… ;P
> 
> Thanks for reading, and please review!
> 
> -mew-tsubaki :}
> 
> 2017 note: My heart… ;w; I rly do love Nick, but I think p much any Helena ship is doomed because of her competition with her mum. D: I wouldn't mind expanding upon this 2011 fic at some point, tho…


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